I think it's fair to say that Hannibal Lecter became an American horror icon for most people with the Oscar winning film "The Silence of the Lambs." Personally, I discovered Lecter back in 1981 when author Thomas Harris introduced him in "Red Dragon." As a kid, I read this novel with a sick fascination and it was easily the scariest book I had read up until that point. Michael Mann adapted it into the film "Manhunter" in 1986 with character actor Brian Cox in the Lecter role, but it wasn't until 1991 and Anthony Hopkins that Lecter became incredibly popular. Hopkins revisited the role with another interpretation of "Red Dragon" and then "Hannibal," and has owned the role ever since. When I heard that NBC was helming a drama based on Lecter, I thought it was a disastrous idea! Network television is no such place for such evil! But I must say that the program has far exceeded my rather limited expectations. Created as a prequel to the events of "Red Dragon," the show has a thoughtful slow burn appeal that shows surprising restraint. The program might have some gore, to be sure (especially by traditional network standards), but it succeeds most spectacularly as a psychological study of two men with more in common than they'd like to admit.

The plot centers around a FBI profiler named Will Graham (Hugh Dancy). Graham can literally get into the mindset of a killer, and the show stages vivid and brutal recreations as Graham uses these skills to analyze crime scenes. This innate ability to think like a monster has taken an emotional toll on Graham, and he is an absolute mess. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) is a brilliant psychiatrist who aids in an early investigation but is drawn to the darkness within Graham. Through the course of the episodes, Graham and Lecter become closer.Read more ›

This is one of the best shows on TV. Great cast & writing. The special effects are the best there is. This is not a series for children. This is NOT a family show. It is for adults period. I have heard lame parents complain that the series is not family friendly... DUH!!!! It is Hannibal! It is not a show about rainbows and unicorns.This is strictly adult TV.Intelligent, well developed stories and characters. It is a series that knows what it is and exceeds audience members expectations. If you like shiny crappy vampire TV this also may not be for you, because the characters aren't bed hopping blood suckers. Hannibal's characters are actually interesting and they actually have depth.

Binged through 13 episodes of Hannibal last night. Wow. For the record, this is my first review ever on Amazon EVER and I felt I owed it to the actors and the producers and all the talent involved to tell everyone how incredible this show is. If you have ever read the books, this show is extremely loyal to the text, and therefore the character development and build-up is fantastic. The production and visuals are absolutely GORGEOUS, I mean flat-out delicious to look at. And they all serve a purpose, from Hannibal's exquisite dining dishes hand-prepared, to walking through a crime scene in the volatile mind of Will. The crime scenes are even more disturbing than Seven, you will be immersed completely into a beautifully dark world. The soundscapes are chilling. The tone is wonderfully dark. And the acting is top-notch. I've recently been such a huge fan of the extremely talented Mads Mikkelson, and he carves out a brilliant Hannibal Lecter that I absolutely find irresistible. Fascinating, scary, uber-cool and collected, dangerous, intelligent, refined, and primal all at the same time. The anticipation for when and how he will strike is worth every episode. His rendition of Lecter is iconic. Hugh Dancy no less does a magnificent job as Will. The way you see his character becoming engrossed into the minds of killers and the crime scenes, his descent towards madness and his inner delusions taking him over symptom by symptom becomes unsettling to watch simply because his performance is that genuine. Bravo to the leads for such committed performances, the chemistry between the leads is irresistible. Gillian Anderson and Eddie Izzard also make for wonderful supporting characters and guest appearances.

Absolutely brilliantly done with a cast of characters whose acting talents are far superior to nearly every other on network television. You cannot surpass the level of depth of character development, the writing, where as they discuss real theories of psychology; build up, and character development between Will Graham and Dr. Lecter is unlike anything else on television and cannot be done with a movie.

Eventually we will view shows like this one not to be just a show, but rather a series of movies, each telling a story, where at one point a 2 hour movie will not be enough anymore to satisfy our palate for something as savory as this series.

Its hard not to compare this show to the Following with Kevin Bacon. On the surface, they're very similar. Tortured main character, gruesome murders, creepy psychopaths. Yet, they are, in essence, nothing alike. Bacon's character is a cliche. Will Graham, the protagonist in Hannibal, is so beautifully drawn, I can't take my eyes off him. He is a "special investigator" with the FBI. Those who work with him see him as fragile, so much so that they all seem to be holding their collective breath, waiting for him to shatter. The thing that makes him weak in their eyes is his stunning depth of empathy. This is how he solves crimes. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist (and future notorious psychopath) who works with the FBI and Graham, has a different perspective. When Graham asks "how do you see me?", Lecter replies, you are "the mongoose I want under the house when the snakes slither by."

The production quality is high, the supporting cast is great. The show is smartly written. However, because the show focuses lovingly and long on each gruesome act, I give it only three stars.